Luke 23:4

23:4 Then ¹  Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation ²  against this man.”

Luke 23:12

23:12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, ³  for prior to this they had been enemies. ⁴ 

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¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

² tn Grk “find no cause.”

sn Pilate’s statement “I find no reason for an accusation” is the first of several remarks in Luke 23 that Jesus is innocent or of efforts to release him (vv. 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 22).

³ sn Herod and Pilate became friends with each other. It may be that Pilate’s change of heart was related to the death of his superior, Sejanus, who had a reputation for being anti-Jewish. To please his superior, Pilate may have ruled the Jews with insensitivity. Concerning Sejanus, see Philo, Embassy 24 (160-61) and Flaccus 1 (1).

⁴ tn Grk “at enmity with each other.”